Gregory McNeely (2007)

Following a hearing on March 7, 2007, a panel of the Discipline Committee of the College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario found that Mr. Gregory McNeely engaged in professional misconduct by:

• contravening a standard of practice of the profession or failing to maintain the standards of practice of the profession.

Mr. McNeely and the College presented an agreed statement of facts, which was accepted by the Discipline Committee panel. Based on the agreed statement of facts, the panel found that in 2003 and 2004, Mr. McNeely shared client information with his colleagues primarily through verbal reports, rather than written reports. In addition, in September 2004, when he was in the process of leaving his employer hospital, Mr. McNeely failed to complete a referral status report regarding files for which reports were outstanding. Mr. McNeely said he conducted himself in this way due to conflicting expectations for the sharing of information between occupational therapists and occupational health nurses at his employer hospital. The College believes that Mr. McNeely should have resolved the conflict in such a manner that enabled him to provide written reports to the occupational health nurses. In addition, Mr. McNeely failed to return in a timely fashion employer property, namely keys, a pager and his employee identification. He also returned client files in a manner that allowed the files to subsequently become lost.

Mr. McNeely admitted that his conduct constituted professional misconduct.

The College and Mr. McNeely proposed a joint submission on penalty, which was accepted by the Discipline Committee panel with minor amendments. Accordingly, the panel ordered:

1. Mr. McNeely to appear before a panel of the Discipline Committee to be reprimanded by telephone on a date chosen by the Registrar. The fact of the reprimand shall be recorded on the public register of the College;


2. The Registrar to suspend Mr. McNeely’s certificate of registration for four (4) months, to be served on a date chosen by the Registrar;


3. The Registrar to impose a term, condition and limitation requiring Mr. McNeely’s practice to be supervised for the two (2) year period immediately following his return to active occupational therapy practice in Ontario. The supervised practice will involve regular meetings with the supervisor to discuss caseload; one shadowed visit per month by the supervisor; and one random chart audit each quarter with follow-up reports to the Registrar by the practice supervisor regarding the chart audit and regarding Mr. McNeely’s practice in general;


4. The Registrar to impose a term, condition and limitation requiring that Mr. McNeely successfully complete a course in ethics and a course in record keeping acceptable to the Registrar, at Mr. McNeely’s cost, within the four (4) months immediately prior to his re-applying for registration with the College;


5. The Registrar to impose a term, condition and limitation prohibiting Mr. McNeely from supervising students or provisional practising registrants for two years after his return to active occupational therapy practice in Ontario; and


6. Mr. McNeely to pay to the College costs in the amount of $3,000 to be paid in full prior to re-applying for registration with the College.

The panel found that the proposed order met the principles of penalty and was consistent with similar cases. The panel also acknowledged the following mitigating factors: this was Mr. McNeely’s first time before the Discipline Committee; Mr. McNeely was experiencing some personal and financial challenges; and Mr. McNeely’s actions did not result in harm to a client.